Where I See Fashion || Interview

Within the creative world we can find inspiration from all areas of the planet, be that people, nature, art, music or fashion. All these things work together to inspire each other in every aspect and combine their own elements to continuously enforce creativity within our lives.

Bianca Luini is a fashion design graduate living Milan, and is the creator and owner of Where I See Fashion, a blog with well over 355,000 views that has taken the Tumblr-Sphere by storm and shown the world that inspiration is everywhere. 

Bianca matches fashion images with a variety of art and nature photographs in a side-by-side comparison drawing the parallels between the two. The compilation of two images is often so compelling and mesmerising that its hard to believe that the right side image was not the original inspiration to the fashion designer - or was it...?

I was lucky enough to speak to Bianca and ask her some questions about her blog and the movement she has created within the world of Tumblr: 

Match #195

Picture by Feng Wang published on Vogue Italia’s website | Google Maps view of the “Underwater Waterfall” in Le Morne, Mauritius

What and why made you start your blog Where I See Fashion?

I’m constantly inspired by the beautiful pictures that I see all over the web, and I've always wanted to find a personal way to collect them. I started noticing similarities between pictures while doing image reserch for uni projects (I've studied Fashion Design in Milan), I kept saving and saving pictures on my laptop until one day I tried to put them properly together, as pairs. I really liked how they looked so I decided to start a blog, and that when WISF was born!

Match #159

Benjamin Jarvis by Thomas Cooksey for HERO Magazine | Building in Eindhoven, Netherlands photographed by GIJS LEUSSINK

When did you originally start seeing the connections, primarily visual, between fashion and art/nature etc?

I've always knew since I got interested in fashion that designers are often inspired by art or nature when creating their collections, and as a fashion design student I've learned how important it is to look for inspiration before starting a project. Now whenever I see new collections I can't help but wonder where the designer took the inspiration from, and that's what I love to show on my blog!

Match #181

Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2014 | Interiors of the Duomo di Monreale in Sicily, Italy

I’ve personally always believed that fashion is an art, how do you feel about this? What makes fashion an art for you?

I strongly believe fashion is a form of art! The definition of the word 'art' in the dictionary is the following: “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power”. I just think fashion fits right in this definition, we may call it decorative or applied art, but to me there's no doubth that it is an art form.

Match #153

Elena Sudakova in “Invitation à la Danse” by Sølve Sundsbø for Numéro Magazine #91 March 2008 | Prometheus Bound by Nicolas-Sébastien Adam, white marble, 1762

How do you make your matches? Is it something that comes naturally and spontaneously to you, or is it more of a process that takes a lot of time?

I have built a sort of image archive where I keep all the pictures I find beautiful and interesting, I save many photos every week and I use this archive to create my matches. It's a process that can take a second or weeks, sometimes I’m lucky enough to find two photos at the same time that perfectly go together but usually I find the perfect pair after a few days. Or maybe I don’t find anything for a week and then I create 15 matches in a day! It’s not a regular process, it kind of just happens when it’s time!

Match #176

Details at Céline Fall 2013 | Forest with green moss and white trees

Where do your source the majority of your images from?

Almost every picture I use is from Tumblr, which I love very much as image source and as community! Sometimes I also use Pinterest or Google, but it's rare.

Is Effortless Fashion Really a Thing?

I recently read an article in The Debrief about effortless fashion and the focus of the article was that we shouldn't be using the term effortless fashion or effortless dressing because in reality, achieving this effortless look is a lot harder than magazines (and society) give off. 

After reading Pandora Sykes' article it really got me thinking: we are living in a world where the epitome of fashion is an effortless look which in reality is not so effortless to achieve. Telling someone if they look effortless or not is a bit of a double edged sword: you either insult them because effortless could mean that they have put no thought into their outfit whatsoever and couldn't care less, or you face the trouble of making your friend/mum/sister feel that they have severely overdressed for your coffee break and that they need to be more effortless...

Back in May The Debrief did an interview with Shopbop's NYC based fashion director, Eleanor Strauss, in which she voiced her opinion on this effortless trend by saying: 'I like to think what I wear looks effortless - but in all honesty I probably tried on around fifty outfits and was then late for work.' 

There is a stigma that arises if a woman spends hours planning her outfit; to some it suggests a level of vanity and excessive self-pride, however in reality most women (obviously not all) DO plan their outfits or DO spend time thinking about what to wear. The ability to just 'throw on' an outfit is much more difficult than we realise, and I know that if I was to just 'throw' something on it would not result positively and I would most likely end up wearing a horribly coordinated outfit or joggers and a hoodie.. 

William Rast || Distressed Jeans

I spoke to Eden Gasson, who I recently did a style profile on, about her thoughts on effortless style in which she replied saying "I could never say my style is effortless. I love fashion and love planning my outfits [and] getting inspiration. Fashion can be effortless but I think it's hard, and for most people it's not. "

"In regards to being able to throw anything on and look stylish, I guess people who can do that are just lucky, or have a good quick eye for a good outfit and I'm jealous if people like that exist!"

I really struggle to come to terms with the idea that a look can appear effortless. There's just something that I don't quite get. I mean if you really have put no effort into your outfit that fine, and you have successfully achieved the goal. However what I just don't understand is the concept behind buying and outfit purely just look like you couldn't care less? Think distressed jeans, over sized shirts and that 'boyfriend' look that keeps coming back. I can't tell you the amount of people I know that have bought a perfectly nice pair of jeans only to rip them up so they look distressed and create an effortless look.

One of the things I really do struggle with in regards to effortless fashion is what it really means. Whilst writing this article I did some research and Googled it. At first I went onto reddit.com and read a discussion about effortless style and how to define it. Whilst reading it I realised that effortless style means different things to different people. it should be noted that to one person, effortless style could be literally just grabbing whatever is lying on your floor at that exact point, or maybe even just wearing a really simple and boring outfit (but still nice?) However to some people the concept of effortless fashion is something completely different. Some of the women on the discussion page made it clear that their idea of effortless fashion is a combination of the comfortable and the stylish. It seems that keeping it simple and stylish is the main idea behind this effortless fashion movement.

Alexa Chung || Huge style icon for effortless fashion

However after reading some of the discussion on Reddit I simply just Googled "effortless fashion" and lo behold up appeared hundred and thousands of Pinterest pages and blog posts on How to Achieve Effortless Fashion and articles about Alexa Chung Looking Effortlessly Chic. Now don't get me wrong, sometimes I do like looking at these articles and Pinterest pages, but surely if you're basing your look after Alexa Chung and learning How to Achieve the Perfect Effortless Style in 5 Ways from a magazine it defeats the point of having an effortless look in the first place? 

Personally I'm not a fan of the term effortless fashion, I think it comes with too many contradictory connotations and in the long run, achieving a complete effortless look without putting effort in isn't going to happen. It will require putting in effort somewhere along the way. And whats so wrong with having put effort into you outfit anyway? There should be no shame in admitting to your friend (and yourself) that yes to did put effort into your outfit, and yes it might show, but don't you look great.

I would love to hear what your opinions on effortless fashion on - leave them in the comments below.

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Style Profile || Eden Gasson

Meet Eden Gasson (aka choccyprincess), a sixteen year old retro-fashion loving feminist from Northampton, England and with over 4000 followers on social media. I've been following her on twitter and instagram for  a long time now and, without this sounding horribly over-enthusiastic, she is probably one of the coolest sixteen year olds I've ever seen and spoken to. She is open-minded and isn't afraid to express her opinions and beliefs, and is a strong advocator of positive body image and feminism. For a sixteen year old she seems way beyond her years and exerts a very mature view on the world. 

What strikes me about Eden is her unique and eclectic style, she has the most amazing wardrobe I have ever seen, and with most of it being vintage. Her style illuminates a sort of joy and confidence that so many girls lack nowadays, and that so much fashion does not have. Her bold colours, one-off finds and hidden gems all, I feel, represent what Eden is like as a person and her style emanates her and truly is unique.

After laughing at her tweets and stalking her instagram I found her tumblr and was introduced to much more of her wardrobe than I had already seen and I was, I have to to say, exceedingly jealous. She seems to have this whole fashion thing figured out and she told me that she has no main fashion inspiration, and all at the age of sixteen. It's enough to make you look at your own wardrobe and wonder what you are doing wrong…

"I love fashion and love planning my outfits, getting inspiration off of tumblr and from magazines etc, and colour-coordinating my outfit with accessories. I feel like my fashion sense does reflect me as a person in some aspects and it is a way of expressing myself and my artistic side, but I honestly do just wear whatever I like to wear just because I can."

Anyway, I've haven't done one of these before, but I have been very eager to try it, so I thought I would do little style profile/interview with Eden and see what she feels about her own style, fashion and fashion within feminism.

Tumblr || Twitter || Instagram

Have you always been interested in fashion, and if so can you remember when you first became really interested? 

I think I have always been interested in fashion, but didn't really get fully into it until I was around 15.

What would you consider your style to be?

My style can go from 50s movie star to 90s goth to 5 year old in the length of a week . My style is a mix of anything and everything I think is cool. My classmates used to say I came into school dressed as different person every day!

I've noticed your massively into vintage - can you remember what the first vintage thing you bought was? 

I wish I had both a cool answer to this and a good memory, but no I do not. I can remember the first time I went into my local vintage shop though. It's this ginormous warehouse hidden just out of my town and I had never seen so many different colours and styles in one place. It's called 'A Most Marvellous Place To Shop' and it really is.

Favourite era of fashion? 

I want to say 60s but this is honestly like a mother having to chose a favourite child.

Have your parents (or any other family member) influenced your style in any way? 

Yes, both my parents! I was around 14 and I remember my parents bringing a load of clothes down from the attic and it included my Dad's original 90s Nirvana oversize tie-dye jumpers and my Mum's clothes from her goth and punk days as a teen. My Mum influenced my style mainly though, her teenage days she was a punk with bright red hair and fishnet tights and in her later teens she was a goth with corsets, choker necklaces and these long black pvc coats which were so kickass. In the 90s she also used to go clubbing with my Dad, her in fur coats and him in his pin stripe suits, they'd call themselves the "King and Queen" of the local live music venue. My mum also used to wear a suit jacket whilst topless underneath or with a bra which I always though was super cool (which I'm yet to experience).  

How do you think feminism has influenced women's fashion, specifically today's fashion? I've not had a big think about this. I know it's now acceptable and pretty badass for women to wear suits, I've seen a lot of women wearing them lately too in the fashion world which I think is awesome and is influenced by feminism. 

Would you say your own style is influenced by feminist movements etc?

I wouldn't say my own style is, I do own a few T-shirts with Feminist phrases on if that counts, although since becoming a feminist I don't care if people don't like what I wear, or if it's too "sexy", "shows too much skin" or "isn't 'right' for my body". So my confidence in outfit choice has been effected by my journey as a feminist. 

All images are taken from Eden Gasson's Tumblr with permission.

Vintage Playsuit || Outfit Post

I love clothes (obviously) and I love styling my own outfits. There's just something so refreshing about creating/styling an outfit, particularly one that you feel to be unique and expressive of your personality and who you are as a person. However, doing this can be pretty time consuming and can be a lot of effort. I've found the bets things to wear when in a rush, or if you simply can't be bothered etc are either dresses or playsuits. They are one item and only require you to pick shoes (and accessories if you so desire.) There is no need to stress over whether 'that top' will go with 'those jeans/skirt/shorts' etc etc and generally they are effortlessly stylish.

I went through a stage of never wearing dresses accept on formal occasions. They made me feel to girly and for some reason made me feel as though I was immensely over-dressed for whatever I was doing. So for about a year (I think) I didn't wear dresses casually, bus over the past couple of years I've started to refund my love for them, they are so so easy to wear and incredibly comfy. However I was then introduced to playsuits. 

Playsuits came in to fashion a couple of years ago as what I remember to be a "summer essential"… To be honest, at first I didn't really get it. Why would I want to wear a dress with shorts that meant having to completely strip when wanting to the bathroom? Surely they're not very comfortable I thought. Well I was proven wrong when I bought my first playsuit a couple of years back form Accessorize: it was navy blue with this pretty white detail on the chest. I still have it but I've worn in so much that there are hundreds of holes everywhere and it's most definitely on its way out ): 

Anyway, since then I've absolutely adored playsuits, they are possibly one of the comfiest things ever and they have the simplicity and style of a dress, but with the liberty of movement. You don't have to worry about it flying up in a gust of wind, or worrying that you're possibly showing a bit too much when sat down or sprawled across the sofa. 

Do you remember that post I did about the vintage stall in my local market ran by the wonderful Isabel? (If you didn't see it, you can read it here.) Well I regularly make visits to the stall and I had my eye on this playsuit for about a month, but every time I went to the stall I never seemed to have any money on me. However, on Friday I finished my last AS Level Exam and was in town with my friends and made a trip to see Isabel. Oddly enough the playsuit was still there and I actually had money on me so I decided to treat myself for finishing my exams. I tell myself that it because of Fate that the playsuit was still there and therefore I had to buy it.

So here is the playsuit which I bought for £20. The material (I think) is silk, or at least a very similar material such as satin. Admittedly when I bought it, it was huge. But to be honest I like buying things big because I either keep them and wear them baggy and oversized, or I alter them to fit me - I like the challenge… There were pockets on the sides which I heartbreakingly had to get rid of in order to take in the sides, but annoyingly there wasn't really another way around it so I had to say bye bye to the pockets. I think I will be living in this and my two piece all summer.

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Laura Ralph Designs - Two-Piece || Outfit Post

I don't really know where to start. I'll start with saying how sorry I am for not writing since February… I've just been so so busy with exams at the moment and as much as I have wanted to blog, and believe me I have, I've been trying to make myself focus on revision. And that hasn't gone as well as I hoped. Anyway, I have lots lined up and I'm excited to get back into blogging, so don't worry there is lots to come!

Over the past couple of months I've noticed a large interest in hand-made two pieces throughout the country and I personally fell in love with them from the beginning. I was introduced to Laura Ralph through a friend and in my opinion she is definitely one of the best. Her prints and fabrics are all unique and each one of them is so beautiful interesting, and she recently ordered some fabrics from Uganda which are stunning. There's something so fascinating and unique about Laura's fabrics and prints which makes her clothing and company really stand out, and she also creates trouser-sets as well as the short-sets. Also the fact that they are handmade just makes my heart melt, there's nothing better that wearing something and knowing that hard-work has gone into it, and for about £25 I think you would be mad to not want one! 

You can visit Laura on her Facebook page and she also has her clothing at The Little Deer. I would thoroughly recommend checking out Laura's two-pieces. 

I've also realised that this is my first outfit post so that's pretty exciting. I might start doing more of them (thoughts?!) Also I apologise for my awkwardness in front of the camera - I'm new!

|| London Fashion Week || My Favourites from the Week ||

With Fashion Week having been and gone, it seems the fashion world is still obsessing over the biggest fashion event of the year.

I, unfortunately, did not go, however my plan is to try and go next year. Fingers crossed. Anyway, over the past week I have been scrolling through the various pictures and videos of the past Fashion Week from numerous sources; from Fashion Week’s website, Vogue.com to Cara Delevigne and Kate Grand’s Instagram. Every picture and video I have seen has made me so jealous and I just wish more than anything to be there, admiring all the collections (anything is better than A Levels) from the sophisticated and classy to the weird and wonderful.

London Fashion Week has now ended and I thought it would be acceptable to do a post dedicated to my favourites throughout the week, and give a little insight into why I like the collections.

All the images I have used on this post are taken from Fashion Weeks website.

No copyright intended.

Vivienne Westwood Red Label Spring/Summer 2014

Vivienne Westwood has been one of my favourite designers for as long as I've been involved with fashion. There's something so fascinating about and intriguing about her work, her collections reflect her and h er chose style. For me her collections reflect more of art than fashion, they represent freedom, femininity, fashion and art. I am particularly in favour of this collection, there's something about the combination of colours, patterns and various textures that is so mesmerizing.

Tata-Naka Autumn/Winter 2014

How utterly fabulous is this collection?! I think I'm obsessed. Admittedly, I had not heard of Tata-Naka but after a bit of research I discovered that these two Georgian sisters are now one of my favourite labels. When I was scrolling through London Fashion Week's website, I  instantly saw this collection and it is safe to say that it was love at first sight. I'm not sure why I am so completely in love with it, but I am. The clothing has a similar appeal to that of my grandmother's curtains, the sort of appeal that makes you question yourself: why do I like this? What is it that is so intriguing? But there you are, still doting over this bazaar yet beautiful combination. 

Erdem Spring/Summer 2014

I think monochrome is a trend that will always be around. It will circulate the fashion world for eternity, constantly making reoccurrence's on our catwalks and in our magazines. It is just so effortlessly chic and sophisticated, and it cannot go wrong. It is faultless. Erdem's S/S collection for 2014 is the epitome of all that. With a combination of just black, just white, and the two mixed together, Erdem Moralioğlu has created a collection that not only is simplistic in colour, but is profound in the details, the fabrics and the designs. Monochrome at its finest.

Emilia Wickstead Spring/Summer 2014

And moving on from the simplistic colours, we encounter the bold colours. Emilia Wickstead has pulled out all the stops in creating a beautiful and stimulating collection. The structured cuts and shapes contrast with the bold, yet soft pastel colours creating a collection to suit everyone. There is something about Wicksteads S/S 14 collection that just has me falling head over heels. I love everything about it. The angular shaping to the clothing against the pastel colours is just beautiful. I just love it...

Whistles Autumn/Winter 2014

Lilac. The marmite of the fashion world. It has the potential to be fabulous and eye-catching, or the potential to drown all colour out of your face and make you look severely ill. (Personally I am a fan of lilac.) Whistles' A/W 14 collection is wonderful. The colours are, I must admit, some of my favourites and the combination of them just works. The clothes look comfortable and easy to wear, yet still having an effortlessly chic look to them.



So here you have it, just a couple of my favourites from London Fashion Week. Hopefully next year  you will be reading a post dedicated to when I actually went to Fashion Week. We can hope. Please let me know your favourites from Fashion Week.

|| The Fight Against Fur ||

As many of you will know, I am very much against the use of animals and their skins, furs and products in fashion. It is a controversial  topic amongst many people with various different views, but a topic that I feel very strongly about. I have been a vegetarian for many years now and have, I have said in previous posts, dabbled in veganism, therefore, for me, the idea of eating meat and parts of an animal really disturbs me and I really dislike the idea of it very much.

The use of animals is fashion however is a whole other matter to me. Rather than making me feel nauseous and uncomfortable, I've found that it makes me angry and irritated. There is something so uncomfortable and unsettling about the idea of wearing an animal’s skin or fur, and then there is the horror that animals endure just purely so we humans having something to wear.

“Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way.”

PETA

Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing and has been around since the days of cave-men, I suppose for the humans of the past it was an ideal piece of clothing and relatively easy to get hold of; it kept them warm in the coldest of days and due to the primitive time it would have been incredibly easy to get hold of and would have been part of their hunting any way: eat the meat, wear the skin.

“The decision not to use leather or fur is not just because I don’t eat animals or that I think that millions of animals each year shouldn’t be killed for the sake of fashion. It’s because I also believe in the connection between fur and leather and the environment. There’s a huge connection.”

Stella McCartney

As we are now knee-deep in the cold winter climate, fur coats have started appearing everywhere, making a return to fashion. Thankfully, most of the high street stores sell mainly faux-fur coats, however many stores and designers are selling real-fur coats and jackets and accessories ranging in a variety of different furs: fox, rabbit, grey wolf, raccoon and many, many others. All these animals used for the pleasure of people endure a tremendous amount of suffering and pain and lose inevitably their lives.

Fur Farms are generally the most popular source of fur, with PETA estimating 85% of the fur used in industry coming form these fur farms. Animals in these so-called ‘farms’ are kept in conditions that are too horrific to even imagine, they are confined to small wire cages, which are cramped and filthy. These animals will spend most of their lives trapped in conditions such as these. These ‘fur farms’ are very similar to the factory farms used to rear animals for food: their aim being to increase their profits, exploiting and without a care for the animals.

Images from PETA

[[For more information of Fur Farms visit the PETAwebsite.]]

There are so many alternatives to fur, most of them are just as soft and look almost identical to the real fur. There is also a huge price difference, faux-fur coats are generally immensely cheaper – if that doesn’t sway you toward faux-fur I don’t know what will. Personally I am also against faux-fur, only because I feel it is promoting the suffering.

One of the issues I find that is often associated with the wearing of fur is the frequent contradiction. Many people find themselves hating fur and the use of animals within fashion, however on the other hand they are frequent meat eaters. However we realise that, even though I don't eat meat and haven't for some time, our bodies do (as I shiver at the thought) need proteins, often in the form of meat (however for me thats pulses and tofu.) However we as humans do not need fur, it is not a vital part of our lives.

This is when the "well if you're going to eat the meat why not use the fur as well etc etc" debate, and yes I hear you. But most of the furs used in out clothing are not animals that are consumed as food. When was the last time you ate a bear? Or a fox? Or a raccoon? Yeah, I thought so.

As you can tell I have a very strong opinion on this matter and it is something I feel incredibly passionate about. I read on Independent Fashion Bloggers that talking about a controversial topic, and one that is important to you is an interesting thing for your blog, and a way for readers to connect and understand you as a blogger.